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Geneva gets first Swiss synagogue in 50 years

The first synagogue to be built in Switzerland in half a century has been inaugurated on Monday in Geneva.

Besides the place of worship, the new three-storey building that cost SFr12 million ($11.33 million) to construct houses conference rooms, a space for exhibits and a ritual bath.

The president of Geneva’s Jewish community, Jean-Marc Brunschwig, said the new structure replaces a venue that had become too small for its needs.

The community only consisted of around 30 members when it was founded 40 years ago. Today, it has grown to about 1,500.

The late Baron Edmond de Rothschild, figured among the main financial donors.

A series of frescoes on the outside walls evoke the Holocaust.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

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